The Refugee Effect

By Glenys Hopkins

Set out on 30 September 2015 to go to Serbia, for the Mensa International AG. And because I hate airports, and hate having to leave in the small hours of the morning, I decided to go by rail. It started off fine, got the Pendolino to Euston, quick sprint to St Pancras for the Eurostar, arrived in Paris in time for a light lunch. Got the TGV to Munich, which is where it all started to go Horribly Wrong. It was about 9.00pm and the station was full of drunks in lederhosen (Oktoberfest), I was supposed to be travelling on the Overnight Sleeper to Budapest, which I was looking forward to; it seemed really exotic, I expected the train to be full of glamorous adventuresses and secret agents. Well it wasn't, it was cancelled. :-(. It was replaced by:

 1. An ordinary train which went almost to the German border.

 2. A bus which went over the German border and on to Salzburg, by which time it was about midnight.

 3. A 3-hour wait in Salzburg Station, which is very clean and modern, but everything was closed and it was Very Cold.

 4. An ordinary train which went almost to the Austrian border.

 5. A bus which went to the border, where we had to write our names on a list, then get out and be glared at by armed Austrian border guards who took our passports which was worrying. The young man who had sat next to me was not let back on the bus. His name was Hassan, which may have had something to do with it. The passports were returned, so that we could be glared at again as we crossed the border into Hungary.

 6. Some time later a rather scruffy train took us to Budapest. Instead of the Sleeper Compartment I had a bunk in a couchette, but I did have the compartment to myself. It was at this point that, in attempt to lock the door, I inadvertently pulled on the emergency brake. I noticed that the train was making funny noises, shrugged, found the bolt and setlled down. Just dropping off when the attendant come banging on the door, told me off, and fixed the brake. So I only got a couple of hours' sleep before we arrived in Budapest at 9.00am the next morning. This was the scheduled time, but it should have been one seamless train ride in comfort if not luxury.

I pottered round Budapest for a bit, the surroundings of the station are not the most appealing area. Then it occurred to me that the train taking me to my destination in Serbia, Novi Sad, was not actually going direct from Buda, but from a little town a couple of hours away. If I'd realised this when I arrived, I could have got an early train and made the connection. But I didn't, so I just got the next train that was going there, and arrived at teatime with 7 hours to wait for the next train to Novi Sad. I strolled up and down the main street, had coffee and a luscious cream cake at a cafe. That took up the first half hour. The station was deader than Salzburg had been. Fortunately there was an Australian woman, similarly stranded. She was going to Serbia to look up family members, and talking about her exploits passed quite a lot of time.

The train arrived at about midnight, and meandered gently across part of Hungary and then Serbia, arriving at Novi Sad at 6.00 am next morning. I was only 12 hours late and had missed the first evening's party and an excursion I had booked on. :-(. So I slept until lunch time and then started catching up on the programme.

First published in VISA 125 (February 2016)

Balkan and Transylvanian Treasures

by David Whiting


Wednesday 5 September, Budapest. 

It is cold and raining all day. We meet our Hungarian driver for the tour, Imre, and have a morning city sightseeing tour. We drive into the city and make our first photo stop at Heroes' Square at the end of the city's 'Champs Elysées'. In the square is a tall column, surrounded by equestrian statues of the leaders of the seven tribes who settled in the area in 896 and founded the Magyar people; the name is derived from two words mogy and eri, both meaning 'man'. Atop the column is a statue of Archangel Gabriel, said to have appeared in a dream to King Stephen and offered him a crown in 1000. The first underground in continental Europe was constructed to link the city with Heroes' Square in 1896 to commemorate the millennium of the country.

Our route takes us past the enormous Parliament building, completed in 1902, styled on London's Houses of Parliament. When created in the 1880s Hungary was three times its current size, losing much of its territory after the First World War. On the bank of the River Danube near the Parliament is a monument of 60 pairs of shoes which commemorate the killing of 60 Jews in the Holocaust, when they were shot trying to cross the river.


Crossing the 19th century Chain Bridge we arrive on the Buda side. Close to the 19th century Buda Castle we stop at the 19th century St Matthias Church, named after a 15th century king who was married there. Parts of the church date from the 13th century. It is very beautiful but is currently shrouded in scaffolding undergoing restoration. Nearby is the Fishermen's Bastion, built 1890-1905 and so named because fresh fish was brought to a market there; it is now a promenade with marvellous views along the river.


After lunch we go on an excursion to Szentendre, 25km north of Budapest, on the picturesque Danube Bend. Szentendre today is an artists' town, with many tourist shops. The Serbian houses are brightly decorated. In the 17th century Serbs fled from their homeland when it was overrun by the Ottomans. They settled here and established seven churches. We go inside the Orthodox Blagovesztenska Church built in 1754, the Church of the Assumption. There are separate entrances for men and women. Orthodox masses are held but infrequently. There is a large number of icon paintings. Also in the town is a Plague Cross, 1763; according to legend a victim was buried there vertically upside down in the hope that the plague would be defeated. We have a much-needed hot drink and a pancake at a local restaurant; the pancake is rich with chocolate and liqueur so that it briefly burns with a blue flame.


Thursday 6 September. 

We leave Budapest travelling south-west, crossing the Great Plain, which is mostly very flat with forests and huge fields of sweetcorn and sunflowers. We enter Serbia, still on the Great Plain. Vineyards add to the crops.


We have a lunch stop in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city. Slobode Square outside the City hall is the central square. Local artists have decorated fabricated life-size cows which have been placed all around the square. Across the Danube we climb many steps to visit the mediaeval Petrovaradin Fortress, which has a system of extensive tunnels with space for 30,000 people. According to legend, nobody ever knew the entire layout for security purposes.
Later we arrive in Belgrade, which stands at the confluence of the Rivers Danube and Sava. The city has been destroyed many times so few old buildings remain. Some buildings bombed by NATO in 1999 to remove the dictator Slobodan Milosevic have been left unrepaired. We have a brief drive through the city as far as the Kalemegdan Fortress which overlooks the two rivers. Our hotel, the Continental, is in an ultra-modern area outside the centre.


Friday 7 September. 

We leave Belgrade heading south. The main road passes villages and fields, with the occasional shepherd and his flock. Gradually the land becomes more hilly. We pass through Nis, the third largest city in Serbia, where the Roman Emperor Constantine was born. Then the road passes through a beautiful gorge with several tunnels.


Before we reach the Bulgarian border, we have to change our remaining Serbian dinars into Euro as they cannot be changed in Bulgaria. Border formalities are simple now that Bulgaria has joined the European Union.


Saturday 8 September. 

We begin the day with a sightseeing tour of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. We are relieved that we can actually enjoy it in sunshine, although it is not warm. Heading into the city we pass the monument to Vasil Levsky, Bulgaria's greatest revolutionary hero in the 1860s/70s, rebelling against the Turks, who executed him on the site of his more recent monument.

Alexander Nevski Cathedral

We stop and continue on foot from the city's most splendid edifice, the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, built 1882-1912 to commemorate the soldiers of many nations who fought against the Turks in 1877/78. This Russian Orthodox Church is highly decorated. Only a few seats are provided for the sick and elderly. Music is not allowed except for choirs. There are two thrones, one for the king, the other for the Pope; the king's throne is the larger. The cathedral was named after St Alexander Nevski, the Russian tsar who led his country to victory over Sweden in 1240; he was the patron saint of the Russian tsar when the building was commenced. Other Sofia sites include the tomb of the unknown soldier outside the city's oldest church, the 6th century St Sofia after whom the city was named; the Russian church of St Nicholas, started in 1912/13 by the Russian embassy and donated to the refugees from the Bolsheviks; the National Theatre, built in 1906 and named in honour of Ivan Vazov (1850-1921); a mausoleum to Georgy Dimitrov who was nominated by Stalin to govern Bulgaria, but who died in 1949; and a small area of Roman remains, surrounded by high modern buildings. An early 4th century rotunda was later converted into a church to St George and has frescoes dating from the 10th century.


After the tour we drive south out of Sofia into the Rila Mountains to visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Rila Monastery. Founded in 946 by St Ioan Rilski, it was destroyed many times and most of the present building was erected in 1816-47. The oldest part remaining is a 14th century tower, which has the appearance of a castle keep. It is Bulgaria's largest monastery. The architecture is modern Byzantine. The church is richly decorated with frescoes, icons and carvings. It contains the tomb of King Boris III who reigned between the two world wars. Communists removed and disposed of his body but his heart was located and reinterred here.


Sunday 9 September. 

We leave Sofia heading east parallel with the range of the Balkan Mountains. Balkan is a Turkish word meaning 'mountain'. We stop in Plovdiv, the country's second largest city with 345 000 inhabitants. It was founded by Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great, in 342BC as Philipopolis. It was a large town in Roman times, when it was known as Trimontium, as it was built on three hills.


The centre of Plovdiv is pedestrianised and characterised by odd abstract sculptures. We walk to a small Roman stadium, partially hidden by a new shopping centre and paths; it is overlooked by a modern statue of Philip II and a 14th century mosque undergoing restoration - half of the minaret is missing. From here we climb into the old town, passing the cathedral, built 1844 with its bell-tower added in 1881. The streets are steep and irregular with large cobblestones. We continue up to the large 2nd century Roman amphitheatre, which has magnificent views over the city. It is still used for operas, plays, festivals etc.


We pass a house, built in 1868 with the permission of the Turkish governor. It bears an Arabic inscription on one wall, Bulgarian on the adjacent wall. We also see the house where the French poet Lamartine stayed in 1833. He was the first Western writer to write about Bulgaria. The upper storeys overhangs the lower ones, almost with an English Tudor look.


After lunch we leave Plovdiv passing through the Valley of Roses, famous for the production of flowers and especially rose-oil. Then we climb into mountains covered in forests, stopping at Shipka. There is a great memorial, erected in 1935, to a battle in Shipka Pass where in 1877 Bulgarian and Russian forces defeated a larger Turkish army.


Finally we reach our hotel for the night, the Yantra in the centre of the city of Veliko Tarnovo and overlooking the River Yantra. Across the river from our hotel is the Tsarevets Fortress, dating from the 5th century but mainly built 1185-1393. After dinner in the hotel's restaurant the lights are switched off and at 9pm there is a spectacular son et lumière display at the fortress. The sound is relayed through the restaurant's speakers and is very dramatic. The light display lasts a whole hour and is a highlight of the tour. Veliko Tarnovo was Bulgaria's first capital after the Turks were removed and in 1878 the first Parliament was held at the Tsarevets Fortress. On a bridge over the river is an equestrian statue of the founder of the second Bulgarian kingdom, erected in 1985.


Monday 10 September. 

We visit the Tsarevets Fortress and then nearby Arbanasi. A guidebook refers to many fortress-style houses in the village but all we see is the Church of the Nativity, built in 1598. Outside it has the appearance of a barn, although it used to be much larger. Inside it is like two narrow tunnels. The ancient walls are highly decorated with frescoes; the many cracks are patched up with sellotape! There was a separate chapel for women, influenced by the Greek Orthodox rules; some of the frescoes here are of female saints.


We leave Arbanasi and return by way of Veliko Tarnovo, passing through a forested gorge, heading north across a plain to Ruse for a lunch stop. The city has a pleasant main square with two lovely fountains, a Monument to freedom and a pedestrianised zone. Despite being a border city it is not a tourist town. Afterwards we cross the Friendship Bridge, the only bridge across the Danube that links Bulgaria with Romania, and after brief frontier formalities we cross into Romania, and by late afternoon we are in the capital, Bucharest, which has 2 million inhabitants. The Romanian currency, the leu, has been revalued since last year: 10,000 old lei are worth one leu now. Prices in both values are often seen. Banknotes are made of washable plastic!


Bucharest has wide boulevards and an appalling traffic problem. It seems as if Romanians actually enjoy sitting for ages in traffic jams.


Tuesday 11 September. 

We have a local guide, Mariana, for our city sightseeing and a local driver too. Before the Second World War Bucharest was known as Little Paris owing to its broad boulevards and beautiful buildings. In 1857 it was the first city in Europe to be lit by gas lamps. Heading into the city we pass the Monastery of Casi; gymnast Nadia Comaneci was married in its church. We drive pass the Arch of Triumph, first built in wood in 1922 and rebuilt in stone in 1936; it commemorates the victory of the Romanian army in the First World War. No-one has passed through the arch except Michael Jackson, when the streets were crowded with fans. In Bucharest we notice ugly electricity and telephone wires across the streets, reminiscent of Hanoi.


We reach Victory Square and drive along Victory Street. We pass the 100-year-old Government palace and Victoria Casino, which was the city Nazi HQ in the Second World War. After Las Vegas and Reno, Bucharest has more casinos than any other city. Further along is the former Royal Palace, 1812; the last king went into exile in 1947 and the building is now the National Art Museum. Almost opposite is the building of the Central Communist Party where Nicolae Ceaucescu had his office and the balcony where he made his speeches; the building now contains several ministries. In the square outside, the 1989 revolution began. When the army backed the revolution, a helicopter landed on the flat roof and Ceaucescu escaped, later to be caught and executed.

Our tour continues with a photo stop at the Parliament Building, to which we will return later. It is the world's second largest building (after the Pentagon; however, Chicago and Macau also claim to have the world's second largest building). 50000 houses and a monastery were demolished to make way for it. It was built 1984-90. Opposite is a beautiful boulevard with 41 fountains, one for each of the 41 regions of Romania, although most of the fountains only operate at weekends. At the end is Union Square with Union Shopping Centre, the largest in south-east Europe.


We take the road up to the nearby Patriarchal Cathedral, 1654-58, seat of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which is spoilt by scaffolding. There is considerable activity today as the former Patriarch died recently and there will be an election tomorrow to choose the new Patriarch, so many senior church officials come and go. There is beautiful singing inside the church which is richly decorated with frescoes and icons. The tomb of St Dumitru, patron saint of Bucharest, can also be seen. The patriarch is the country's fifth most powerful person.


We return to the vicinity of our hotel to visit the Village Museum, founded in 1936. A variety of old buildings from all areas of Romania were dismantled and reconstructed here. Many were built entirely of wood, including the nails; there are also many thatched buildings. Roofs are often high, to store cereals. The buildings are a little too close to each other and there are too many trees to appreciate them all fully, but they are extremely picturesque. Many sheltered crosses can be seen along paths for travellers to pray. Gates and entrances were always highly decorated. The Village Museum has something rarely seen in Bucharest: a tourist shop. It is one of the few places, apart from good hotels, where souvenirs can be obtained.


After lunch we leave on an excursion to the Parliament Building, also known as the People's Palace. Entrance costs 15 lei (£3/$5), a photo permit costs double this amount. Inside we meet our Parliament guide who in one hour shows us about 5%of the 1000 rooms. The main Conference Hall has an enormous chandelier weighing five tons and 600 leather seats. All the rooms are ludicrously spacious, with splendid wooden and marble parquet floors, carvings, carpets, pictures etc. There is even a Parliament Museum. The building is now 90% complete. The cost of the building will never be known as no records were kept. It was built with public money.


Wednesday 12 September. 

We leave Bucharest heading north by way of Ploiesti, an industrial city with many oil refineries, then north-west to Sinaia, a mountain resort with a 17th century monastery, then Peles Castle, 1874-1883, built as a summer residence for Carol I, the first modern Romanian king. We continue after a late lunch, through the Carpathian Mountains into Transylvania, a region of originally Saxon towns, where German is often seen and spoken; there are also numerous Hungarian communities.

Thursday 13 September. 

We leave Brasov in heavy rain and drive about 30km to Bran Castle, perched on a 60m high rock. The castle was built around 1360 and has been linked with the Dracula legend since Bram Stoker's novel was published. Bram Stoker may have seen the castle in pictures and used it in the story, but there is no evidence to prove that Dracula ever stayed there.

Dracula's real name was Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), ruler of Wallachia. He was born in Sighisoara in 1431. In his youth he was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman Court where he witnessed a lot of torture. Eventually he was released and became ruler of Wallachia in 1456. At that time Brasov was ruled by the Germans who called it Kronstadt, so German is still commonly seen in the area. Bran was a border town. Vlad taxed merchants, then banned them from travelling through Wallachia. Any criminals were impaled, hence his name. He defeated the Turks nearby in 1441 and exacted the same punishment. He was therefore a real figure, but the legend as a vampire is total fiction.


There is a steep slope and steps up to the castle entrance. Inside there are plain white walls with old pictures and museum exhibits of Queen Marie who received the castle as a gift in the early 20th century. It was then restored. We understand the castle will come on to the property market in 2009.

We return to Brasov for a walking tour. Two-thirds of the mediaeval walls and gates remain and there are many ancient buildings. We walk along the town's narrowest street, Rope Street, 132m wide and 83m long. There are medieval look-out towers outside the city wall and a cable car takes passengers to the top of Tampa Mountain which overlooks Brasov.


There are plenty of shops in Brasov, especially shoe and fashion shops. And everywhere in Romania there are exchange bureaux and mobile phone shops.


Friday 14 September. 

We leave Brasov heading north through beautiful rolling countryside and picturesque villages with walled and fortified churches. We make a photo stop in one village, Saschiz, dominated by a ruined castle.


Our next stop is in Sighisoara, another Saxon town founded in the 13th century. The Old Town is surrounded by a wall with many towers and gates. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inside the citadel visitors are greeted by two men, possibly students, one carrying a halberd, the other banging a drum. They welcome groups in English, French, German, Japanese, Hindi, Hebrew and several other languages.


We see the house where Vlad Tepes (Dracula) was born in 1414 and lived from 1431 until 1436. It is now a restaurant. We try to have lunch here but it is fully reserved. It's a pity as we were looking forward to stake and chips with garlic! Most visitors climb the 64m high 14th century Clock Tower. A ticket costs 5 lei and includes a museum on several floors; one room is dedicated to German rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth (1894-1989), the father of space travel. The tower's observation platform has marvellous views over the town and signs to various places, even North Pole (3975km).


After lunch our leisurely drive continues to Cluj-Napoca, the largest city in Transylvania and most cosmopolitan city in Romania. Until recently the city was known simply as Cluj; in 1974 Napoca, the name of a nearby Roman city, was added to the name. Our hotel is a good walk from the city centre and we have a short city tour before checking in. We pass the country's most important botanical gardens. In the main square stands a fine Roman Catholic Church with in front an equestrian statue of Matei Corvin, born in Cluj, who as Matthias (Mátyás) was a 15th century king of Hungary. Nearby is the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral, built in the 1920s.


Saturday 15 September. 

After breakfast we return to our room to prepare for departure and have to break into the room as the key does not open the door. That will keep the maintenance man busy!


We leave Cluj-Napoca heading west with a lunch stop in Oradea, an ordinary town close to the Hungarian border. Again frontier formalities are straightforward and we are soon in Hungary, crossing the Great Hungarian Plain back to Budapest. The weather is now hot and sunny and we wish we could start the holiday again. We find a restaurant for dinner; the menu includes such typical Hungarian dishes as 'surprised pork' (devilled) and even stranger names we cannot remember!


Sunday 16 September. 

We have a late afternoon flight home so we spend the morning in the park opposite the hotel (sadly the park attracts several tramps) and reading in the hotel. Our tour has been one of the best, spoilt only by bad weather. Our driver, Imre, and our tour director, Zsuzsana, have been superb; hotels, meals and value for money have been excellent

First published in VISA issue 77 (Feb 2008)

Around the Habsburg Domains

By David Gourley



Cathy and I took a 14-day rail trip to Central Europe, first class all the way, which took us, in all, to seven countries i.e. France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Czech and Slovak Republics. This trip was especially interesting from two points of view.

Firstly, whilst I am not a train buff as such, I love rail travel and I had long hankered after doing a long rail journey in Europe. Secondly, since I took early retirement a couple of years ago, I have largely devoted my time - when not travelling - to studying for a Masters degree in History. One of my specialist subjects was the Habsburg Empire, from 1848 until its demise in 1918.

Another was the post-Communist transition in the various states in this region, the historical interest of this trip was twofold. (Czechs and Hungarians do not, by the way, like being regarded as East Europeans, a term which is considered by them a throwback to the Communist era, to be applied, nowadays, to Ukrainians, Moldovans and so on. As a result of the fall of the Iron Curtain, they have reclaimed their Central European heritage. Geographically, Vienna is actually further east than Prague!)

We started with a journey by Eurostar to Brussels for a brief city tour, before we boarded the sleeper train which was to take us to Vienna via Aachen, a long stop in Cologne, the border town of Passau and into Austria, following fairly closely the Danube through Linz to Vienna, where we had a three night stay.

Schonbrunn Palace

After a tour of the Schonbrunn Palace (which we had visited before), we had an included city tour. A curious aspect of Vienna is that, the melodies of Strauss notwithstanding, it seems to shy away from its own river. The Danube lies to the northeast of the city centre and one can roam around the latter, as we had done on our previous visit, and never set eyes on the river. The city is in this respect very different from Prague, Budapest, Paris or London.

On the following day, we saw some of the countryside around Vienna. We had an all-day tour which took us out through the scenic Vienna Woods. We had stops at the monastery at Heiligenkreuz and the huge Abbey at Melk, which here dominates the Danube.

Not as impressive as either of these, but historically very important, was another stop we made, at Mayerling, which was once used by the Habsburgs as a hunting lodge. It was here, in 1889, that Rudolf, the heir to the Habsburg throne, was found dead, along with his 17 year old lover. It is generally assumed that they committed suicide though there is no definitive proof. His personal life was in a mess, but he also had strong political differences with his father, the Emperor Franz Josef. With some prescience, he opposed the Empire's alliance with Germany and argued strongly that it should never fight Russia. It was as a result of this alliance that the Empire was dragged into the First World War, with Russia on the opposing side. As a result of the War, the House of Habsburg itself fell.

One is not supposed, as a historian, to indulge in "what if?" speculation. But let us do so anyway: if Rudolf had not died, he would still have been the heir, so Franz Ferdinand, who replaced him as heir, would have remained in relative obscurity. The assassination in Sarajevo of Franz Ferdinand would hardly, in those circumstances, have happened. There would therefore have been no First World War, so there would have been no Bolshevik revolution in Russia; nor the Hitlerite seizure of power in Germany. So the Second World War would not have happened either. All things told, the twentieth century might have been a rather more agreeable period in human history. That single events, such as the tragedy at Mayerling, can change the course of history, are indeed food for thought.

We took a different route back to Vienna, this time through the Danube Valley, pausing for a time in the picturesque town of Durnstein. The next day was our free day, and enjoyed rediscovering the city. We returned to the Hofburg, the Habsburgs' winter where we spent quite a bit of time. It so happened that there was an exhibition here about the life of Rudolf. We also went on the Ferris Wheel in the Prater, which was immortalised in the film The Third Man. The Prater is a huge fairground, not really our scene, but one can get to the Wheel without having to go anywhere else in the park. Fine sunny weather gave us a magnificent view over the entire city.

Lunch was taken in the Centrale, one of Vienna's historic coffee houses, whilst dinner was eaten al fresco in a Heurige in the hilly outskirts of the city. These atmospheric restaurants, in which vineyards are licensed to sell their own wines, are very much part of the Viennese scene.

The following day, we set off for Budapest on the Orient Express. Not, I fear, the luxury train which terminates at Venice. This was an ordinary train running on the original Orient Express which starts in Paris and once went all the way to Istanbul.

Budapest - and Hungary - were uncharted waters for us. To start with, we were not impressed. Nor did our city tour at first improve our view for initially it took us through a rather dreary area, where a burnt out sports stadium was pointed out to us. Architecturally magnificent Hero's Square was at first off-putting for, as our guide tried to talk to us, skate-boarders competed for our attention. I am at a loss to understand why their activities should be allowed to mar this historic area. Later during our stay, we returned to Hero's Square, travelling via Continental Europe's first ever underground line; there were no skateboarders this time and we enjoyed the visit rather more.

By the end of our tour, we were converted to the view that Budapest is one of the finest cities we have visited. There is a marked difference between the two halves of the city, Buda and Pest, which are located on opposite sides of the Danube. Pest, on the eastern side, is flat - one is already on the Hungarian Plains! Here is the main downtown area, as well as the Cathedral, which we visited, the Parliament building, and some elegant residential streets.

Buda, on the western side, is by contrast very hilly. For my money, this is the best part of the city. It contains the historic and picturesque Castle District and the Gellert Hill, which gives fine views over the city. We got a taxi here after dinner the following evening, so we could enjoy the view by night. Linking the two sides are a number of bridges, including the Chain Bridge. The bridge over the Thames at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, is a smaller replica.

Our stay in Budapest was for five nights, allowing time for two excursions into the countryside. The first of these was via steam train to Esztergom, the main religious centre, akin in some respects to Canterbury. "The Communists didn't much like this city," remarked our guide. Its basilica is the fifth largest church in the world. In the crypt is a moving memorial to Cardinal Mindszenty, the one-time Primate of Hungary and Archbishop of Esztergom, who is buried here. After the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, he sought refuge in the American Embassy in Budapest. He stayed there until 1971, when he was exiled from the country. He died in Austria four years later and his remains were brought back to Esztergom.

The basilica is strikingly situated on the Danube and from here one can see into Slovakia. The town on the other side looks dreary, full of communist-built workers' flats. But maybe the people on the Slovak side have the better deal - their view is of Esztergom! The bridge linking the two sides has been in ruins since being bombed in World War II, but work is due to start soon on rebuilding it, with the aid of EU funds.

On the next day, we travelled on the Children's Railway, which runs through the scenic Buda Hills. It is reached via an interesting variety of public transport: tram, metro and cog railway. Children do not actually drive the trains but otherwise they run this railway as a reward for hard work at school. I had feared it would be somewhat twee, but not so: this was a fascinating experience. The Communists can be thanked for this, if for little else, for it was built, soon after their takeover, under the auspices of their youth wing, the Pioneers. But it seems to have an assured future in post-Communist Hungary.

The next day was a highlight of this holiday, a full-day excursion to the Hungarian Plain. We drove to the city of Kecskemet, where we boarded a wonderfully archaic steam train, which looked like something straight out of Thomas the Tank Engine: the engine, one felt, really should have had a face and the carriages really should have been called Annie and Clarabel. This took us for miles out onto the Plain, which here has been designated a national park. I helped to "drive" the train for part of the way - in reality one just stands and watches the fireman and driver at work - and was rewarded with a certificate, which I don't understand as it is in Hungarian, one of Europe's most incomprehensible languages (akin to Finnish, which is not any easier!) At the end station, horses and buggies greeted us and took us a couple of miles or so to a horse show.

I was struck, here in Kecskemet as well as in Budapest, by the apparent air of prosperity. Perhaps, as a privileged tourist, I was seeing just a veneer - I am well aware that the transition from Communism has entailed pain for many ordinary people. Hopefully, this is short-term pain leading to long-term gain. But there really wasn't the "Eastern European" feel that might have been expected. We saw no more beggars than back home in London. We felt that Hungary, like the Czech Republic, really is rejoining the west. Whilst there are unfortunate aspects of this - Macdonald's, Benetton and so on (and, in the particular case of Kecskemet, a huge out-of town Tesco hypermarket, which, our guide said, was damaging local traders) - I for one feel great pleasure that these are now free countries.

On our final day in Budapest, we were up early for a visit to the famous baths in the Gellert Hotel, located by the Danube in Buda. Then we had an English-speaking tour of the splendid Houses of Parliament, the design of which was inspired by our own parliament building. The afternoon was set aside for a cruise on the Danube, including a visit to Margaret Island, a green lung in the heart of the city. There was just time before dinner to visit the covered market, a fascinating place, and, close to the Gellert Hotel, a remarkable church which is located in a cave. We tiptoed in as a service was in progress. This church had re-opened in 1989, having been shut down during the Communist era.

We transferred the next day by train to Prague, passing en route through Slovakia and its capital, Bratislava. Whereas the Hungarian and Czech customs officials who boarded our trains were reasonably affable, those from Slovakia seemed rather less friendly. One hapless couple from the Far East were thrown off as they did not have the requisite visa, even though they were in transit. This couple had made sure that their papers were in order for Hungary and the Czech Republic but had overlooked the country in between! Perhaps the officials feared that they would be so captivated by its beauty that they would be unable to resist getting off the train in their country! I fear that, from the train at any rate, Slovakia looked rather dreary. But I am sure it's unfair to judge a country on the basis of a couple of hours spent looking at it through a train window.

Once inside the Czech Republic, the journey, which took us through the country's second city, Brno, was far more scenic. Prague greeted us like an old friend. This, too, was once part of the Habsburg Domains. The Czech Lands - Bohemia and Moravia - were, until, 1918, in the Austrian half of the Empire. In that year, they united with Slovakia, formerly part of Hungary, to form the new state of Czechoslovakia. In the interwar period, this was a peaceful, prosperous and democratic state but it then fell victim, first to the Nazis and then to the Communists. Freedom was restored as a result of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 - one can do a "Velvet Revolution Walk", as we did during a previous visit.

But, in 1993, the Czech and Slovak Republics went their separate ways. This was thanks to the politicians: opinion polls at the time showed that, had there been a referendum, the people in both parts of Czechoslovakia would have voted, by a sizeable margin, against splitting their country.

We had a full day walking tour the next day and just about everything was familiar. The pleasure here was in seeing once more the numerous sights. Prague's beauty derives from the fact that is unspoilt, a medieval city frozen in time. It was not bombed during WW2 and the Communists, though they neglected it, did not ruin it. It is unlikely, in the post-Communist era, to change for the worse, for there is a lot of money to be made from tourism and tourists come to see the city as it is. Much of the historic centre has now been spruced up.

Our local guide spoke movingly of the Velvet Revolution, she herself having been among the crowds in Wenceslas Square who demonstrated against the regime. It is not always realized that Czechoslovakia was betrayed not just once, but twice, by the west. I guess all of us know about Munich. But, after the war, American troops entered the country, and liberated the city of Plzen, only sixty miles or so from Prague. There was no physical impediment to their moving on to the capital, which they could have reached well before the Russians. Churchill urged the Americans to do just that. But Roosevelt was not in listening mode; he still regarded Stalin as his trusted wartime ally and Prague had been promised to Uncle Joe. The history of post-war Czechoslovakia might have been very different if General Patton had been allowed to take Prague.

On one of our earlier visits, we had travelled out to the spa town of Karlovy Vary. There is now a memorial commemorating its liberation by American soldiers at the end of World War II. This, of course, was erected only after the Velvet Revolution. One of the lies which the Communists wished the people to believe was that the whole of Czechoslovakia had been liberated by the Red Army.

We had a full day in which to explore Prague on our own. Then, the day after, we began our journey back. We entered for the first time the territory of the former East Germany. The area just to the north of the Czech border is strikingly beautiful, this being the so-called "Saxon Switzerland". In Berlin, we changed to a high-speed ICE train (InterCity Express -I don't know why they use English terminology!). We'd have loved to have spent time in Berlin, a city we had not visited, but we got a glimpse of the new Reichstag building. We sped across the former East Germany, and back in 'the west'. One is not really meant to say this, as the Germans like to think that theirs is truly a united country. One suspects, though, that psychologically it will be a divided country for some years to come. At least what was once called the "Ugly Frontier", the German section of the Iron Curtain, with its watchtowers, barbed wire and minefields, has vanished.

We carried on, through Hanover, Bielefeld and Wuppertal to Cologne. We returned the next day the same way as we came, through Aachen and Liege to Brussels, and then by Eurostar to Waterloo.


A longer version of this article was published in VISA issue 38 (autumn 2000)